title: Ultrastructural abnormalities in CA1 hippocampus caused by deletion of the actin regulator WAVE-1.
abstract: By conveying signals from the small GTPase family of proteins to the Arp2/3 complex, proteins of the WAVE family facilitate actin remodeling. The WAVE-1 isoform is expressed at high levels in brain, where it plays a role in normal synaptic processing, and is implicated in hippocampus-dependent memory retention. We used electron microscopy to determine whether synaptic structure is modified in the hippocampus of WAVE-1 knockout mice, focusing on the neuropil of CA1 stratum radiatum. Mice lacking WAVE-1 exhibited alterations in the morphology of both axon terminals and dendritic spines; the relationship between the synaptic partners was also modified. The abnormal synaptic morphology we observed suggests that signaling through WAVE-1 plays a critical role in establishing normal synaptic architecture in the rodent hippocampus.
authors.affiliation: Department of Anatomy and Histology, Faculty of Veterinary Science, Szent István University, Budapest, Hungary.
authors.forename: Diána
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Hazai
authors.forename: Róbert
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Szudoczki
authors.forename: Jindong
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Ding
authors.forename: Scott H
authors.initials: SH
authors.lastname: Soderling
authors.forename: Richard J
authors.initials: RJ
authors.lastname: Weinberg
authors.forename: Péter
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Sótonyi
authors.forename: Bence
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Rácz
mesh_terms: D000199:Actins / Q000378:metabolism*; D000818:Animals; D049229:Dendritic Spines / Q000648:ultrastructure; D006624:Hippocampus / Q000002:abnormalities* / Q000648:ultrastructure*; D051379:Mice; D018345:Mice, Knockout; D008854:Microscopy, Electron; D017729:Presynaptic Terminals / Q000648:ultrastructure; D013569:Synapses / Q000648:ultrastructure*; D051300:Wiskott-Aldrich Syndrome Protein Family / Q000172:deficiency*
chemical_list: D000199:Actins; D051300:Wiskott-Aldrich Syndrome Protein Family